8/31/12 4:24 PM EDT

"The Committee notes that the mere fact of conducting further review of a referral, and any mandatory disclosure of such further review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee," the panel said in a statement Friday afternoon announcing it is taking more time for its investigation of the longtime Democratic lawmaker..

The Newark Star-Ledger first reported that Andrews spent more than $9,000 in campaign donations on a wedding trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, in June 2011. His campaign also spent $10,000 that month for a party celebrating his 20th anniversary in Congress and his daughter's graduation.

Lawmakers are prohibited from using campaign funds to pay for personal expenses.

Andrews’ campaign also donated more than $100,000 to Philadelphia-area theaters in which one of his daughters, Josie, performed. And according to the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Andrews has “directed $8,700 in political donations and $1.5 million in federal earmarks to his wife’s employer, the Rutgers Law School in Camden, where she is associate dean of enrollment.”

Based on the Star-Ledger’s initial reporting, CREW filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in November.

Andrews issued a statement on the case last month that read, in part: “In the course of my service, I have always followed every rule and standard. Last November, the Republican Party’s local chairman issued a press release announcing that he had forwarded to the House Ethics committee a series of accusations against me and my family. These accusations are totally and categorically false. Such attacks on anyone’s children and families, who are not public figures, should have no place in our political discourse.

“None of these accusations involve the use of taxpayer or government money. Our campaign’s public disclosures show that every dollar of our campaign funds was properly spent and fully disclosed.”